Charging options for liesure and car battery - mains, solar, DC-DC

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danny-kennard asked Jun 14, '22

Charging options for liesure and car battery - mains, solar, DC-DC

Afternoon folks,

I am just in the midst of a camper conversion and have been struggling to find out if the following is possible.

I have the following items regarding the charging side of things:

- Victron Orion-TR Smart DC-DC isolated 12v 18A

- Victron BlueSmart 12v 15a 3 output mains charger

- Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/15

All 3 will be connected via a distribution block to the leisure battery bank (2 x 115ah AGM) which i understand is ok to do, but i would also like to charge the car battery via the mains BlueSmart charger while connected to shore power.

Now i could run a ing switch live to the DC-DC charger so it only comes on when driving, but that means running a cable the length of the van which i could do without, and i'd rather not if i don't have to.

So the question is, would it be a problem if the BlueSmart mains charger was charging the leisure batteries and the car battery, which would then switch the DC-DC charger on as it'll see the high voltage?

Thanks!

orion-tr smart bluesmart ip22

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Answer 1 · 2022-06-18T05:22:14Z

kevgermany answered · Jun 18, 2022 at 05:22 AM

The dc:dc chargers are unique directional.

It looks as if you want to charge the leisure battery from the alternator while driving, as well as the starter battery from mains hookup.

This means 2 x orion dc:dc chargers, one for each direction. They can be setup for voltage based on/off switching, this is under engine on detection in the settings.

However... if you make the assumption that the starter battery only needs a trickle charge on mains, you can do what I did, fit a Votronic trickle charger to go from the leisure side to the starter battery. Much cheaper.

But whatever you do, you'll be adding more wiring.

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sergiu commented · Jun 11, 2023 at 02:38 PM

I have installed the DC-DC 12v 30a Isolated, when installing the trickle charger do i need to ground the negative to the chassis, since the dc-dc is directional does it allow for the negative to be used?

Regards, Sergio.

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stevensnel commented · Jun 11, 2023 at 02:59 PM

I’m not sure that you’ll be adding more wiring. Couldn’t I splice in the trickle wire to the positive-in of the Orion. In effect I am using the positive wire that’s already there to charge the starter battery.

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sergiu stevensnel commented · Jun 15, 2023 at 09:41 PM

Yep, seems like if you have an isolated unit, you will have to ground it to the chassis, so the car/van battery can receive the balance amps.

That beats up the extra cost you pay on the isolated units.

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